January21, 2010

Mr. Speaker, since the rebirth of the nation of Israel over 60 years ago, radical jihadists have relentlessly tried to destroy this nation.

Funded by Iran, Hezbollah attacks from the north and thousands of unguided rockets have rained down on Israeli villages. That is right: unguided missiles. That means they deliberately go anywhere and hit anybody where the missile is fired. That includes men, women, children. It doesn't matter to Hezbollah. They want to kill in the name of terror.

Hamas does the same thing in the south. Over 12,000 missiles have been launched into Israel from the Gaza Strip alone. I have been to Israel, and it is a small country. It is the size or smaller than the size of New Jersey. But yet from the north they get missiles, from the south they get missiles. But they still exist, and they have the right to exist. Israeli citizens fight these radicals rather than give up and surrender. After all, victory never comes by taking the path of least resistance.

These are unprovoked attacks into this nation. Israel is assured by us, the United States, that she has the right to defend herself, but sometimes we try to interfere with her own national defense. Israel is our strongest ally in the Middle East, and we need to treat her as such.

The whole situation is made even more complicated by Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons. The Tiny Tyrant in the Desert, Ahmadinejad, has the means to hit Israel with missiles. And not only Israel, but our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Iran is the largest state sponsor of terrorism in the world, and to allow Ahmadinejad to have nuclear weapons is not a nuclear option. The Tiny Tyrant Ahmadinejad uses murder and brutality to try to silence protests in his own country of Iran. Imagine what he will do to the world if he has nuclear weapons.

The best great hope for the world is that the people of Iran change their regime, and we should encourage and support the students, the academics, and others not to give in to their oppressive dictator.

Israel has been fighting radical jihadists for decades, and they have been on the front lines. Terrorist attack after terrorist attack, they have endured. We all remember the massacre of Israeli Olympic athletes in Munich in 1972. And then there was the slaughter of Israeli teenagers in a pizza parlor in Jerusalem in 2002.

Radical Islam kills people they hate. They kill them in the name of religion, people of different religions, like Jews, Christians, and even moderate Muslims.

The modern State of Israel was founded in the wake of the Holocaust, after 6 million Jewish people were murdered by the Nazis. The reestablishment of Israel reflects the best conscience of a civilized world. And Israel has the absolute right to exist, just as other nations do; and it has the absolute moral right to defend itself against those who want to eliminate her.

Israel is our partner and ally in this fight against terrorists, terrorists who deliberately target civilians. Innocent women and children are considered military combatants to terrorists. Jihadists use women as hostages and hide behind their skirts for their cowardly cover.

Some history is in store here, Mr. Speaker. Back in 1967, Israel was forced into a war by Arab nations. President Nasser of Egypt threatened to ``drive Israel into the sea,'' and the conflict is now called the Six Day War. The armies of Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon amassed on the Israeli borders, and President Nasser of Egypt ordered the United Nations emergency troops to withdraw from the Sinai Peninsula. So the whole world watched and waited for the destruction of Israel. The United Nations stood by and did nothing.

But to the shock of the world, Israel turned back all of the aggressors in just 6 days and headed to the enemy capitals.

Israel won a defensive war on the West Bank, Gaza, the Sinai Peninsula, and the Golan Heights. A cease-fire was then negotiated.

International law says that countries must return land gained from a defensive war only under a negotiated peace. So Israel and Egypt have since signed a peace treaty. Israel gave back the Sinai. Time and again Israel has traded land for peace, but it still has no peace.

All of the nations of the Middle East must condemn terror as a policy for change. The Palestinians and Israelis must settle their disputes now, some 60 years later, through mutual respect, cooperation, honesty, and understanding. But intimidation, terror, murder is not an acceptable foreign or domestic policy and should be publicly and jointly rejected by all sides.

Make no mistake about it, Israel will not surrender or retreat in the wake of this violence. Israel shall never give in and never give up the right to exist, whether jihadists like it or not. And the United States should make it clear to terrorists that we will stand shoulder to shoulder with our friends and allies.